I am Tiger
by vinskijay
Summary: J/A Romance, set in a AU. Will feature the other characters from the show
1. Chapter 1

I am Tiger

Prologue

Abed Nadir was walking down the street, new season of Cougar Town DVDs in his hands. He looked up to cross the street, catching a reflection that shook him to his very core. He looked behind and there he was. Tiger had found him.

Abed took flight, pulling out his phone and dialling his emergency contact. Britta Perry picked up on the third ring.

"Abed what is it?" she responded, "Are you even aware of the time?"

"He's found me. I can't believe he's found me"

"Who's found you?" Britta was more than confused by now. She thought she had hidden Abed so well, that no-one could find him. God she'd britta'd this.

"It's Tiger. He's after me right now."

"Ok calm down. We planned for this. Go to your apartment, I'm coming down to get you out. Don't worry Tiger won't be able to reach you. I promise to get you to safety."

Britta ran to her car and raced over to Abed's place she reached there within 20mins. She stormed into the building and ran up 3 flights of stairs and to his apartment. She stopped at the door. It was wide open. She peered in and swore to a God she did not believe in. Lying on the floor was Abed, 2 bullets to the heart and a safety shot through the back of his head.

Her mobile screeched, breaking the calm. Shirley Bennett looked at the screen and picked it up immediately.

"Tiger. I thought you were never to call me unless it's an emergency"

"I thought you wanted to know ASAP. It's done"

"It's done? Are you sure he's dead? Abed can be slippery."

"Hey when you ask me to do something, I always produce. That's the Winger guarantee!"


	2. Chapter 2

Shirley Bennett looked out of the office window of Shirley's sandwiches and sighed. Ordering the death of Abed was one of the hardest tasks she had done. But it was necessary. He had betrayed them and that was only punishable by death.

20 years ago she had been recruited by the C.I.A.15 years since she had taken control of the Orion team, a CIA black ops team, with Shirley's sandwiches as its front. Now she had a briefing with its top operative, Jeffrey 'Tiger' Winger. A knock on the door alerted her to his presence.

"You're late", she said. Just for once she wished he could be on time. "Have a brownie"

"ummm...maybe later"

"One brownie won't do much harm to you."

"Hey someone's got to keep the temple in shape!"

She just shook her head and decided to get on with the briefing.

"What happened?"

"He ran and tried to escape. I didn't let him. The end"

"Any clues on who turned Mr Nadir".

"Yep got the info off his laptop, but you're not gonna like it."

"Who?"

"The DGES, our wonderful French counterparts"

"Those pesky, cheating bastards. They know we are off limits"

"Yeh, but when has that stopped them before"

"Oh you can be sure I'm not gonna let this drop."

"Well we could always, accidentally drop a nuclear missile on their ass!"

"Tiger stop right there. We are NOT at war with France."

"Not officially"

Shirley stopped and took a deep breath. She looked at Jeff closely and saw a tiredness she had never seen before.

"Jeff I need you to take a break. You've been on mission after mission for the last 12 years. You can't expect to do this forever. "

"I'm fine boss."

She raised one eyebrow at him.

"No really. I just wanna enjoy the field, before some idiot promotes me and sticks me behind a desk."

Shirley winced at this. Though she wanted him to be safe, she also hated the thought of Jeff stuck behind a desk. He would be in a permanent foul mood. The man was not built for paperwork.

"I suppose I could find a new mission for you"

"Where to boss?" The corner of his mouth smirked up.

"Lord give me strength. Boy give me some time to find someone for you to piss off. They aren't exactly queuing up for you to ruin their day. We can discuss this at dinner tonight, at my place."

"Dinner? At your place?"

"You know it won't kill you to eat a home cooked meal for once. Now get out of here. I've got a million things to do and you mister; need to make sure your files are up to date."

At this Jeff nodded and left her office.

-

Shirley pulled the lasagna out of the oven and tutted. Jeff could never be on time for anything. He was completely infuriating, but she loved him all the same. She was somewhat shocked that this fake lawyer, with the world's most questionable morals, had not only become her most reliable operative, but also her closest friend. When she met him 12 years ago, she doubted that he would even last a full week.

The doorbell rang and Jordan ran to answer it.

"Hiya Uncle Jeff. Long time no see"

"What have I told you about calling me uncle?"

"Not too"

"Then let's start practicing it. Starting. Now. Where's your mother?"

"In the kitchen, waiting to put your head through a jukebox"

With that Jeff slipped Jordan the packs of red vines he had bought the Bennett boys (without their mother's knowledge) and walked to the kitchen.

"Sorry I'm late. I got kinda held up"

"Did you at least ask her name this time?" she responded, placing a plateful of lasagna on the table and pushing him down into a seat. "I can only pray for your soul so much, you kinda got to help me out"

"What's the point, it's not like I'm gonna see her again" he smirked.

"Why do you run every time a chance at something real comes your way?"

"Where's Andre?"

"He's taken Ben to his mothers. And don't try to change the subject. Why do you always run?"

"Do you not remember your wedding day and my _nut up and die alone speech_? Plus this job you gave me hardly lets me have a meaningful relationship with someone."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't spend the rest of my life lying to a woman about what I do. I can't tell her that I'm a lawyer for Shirley's Sandwiches, when really I'm a black ops operative who you call when you need someone dead"

"You know you could always leave"

His head shot up, eyes wide at what he had just heard.

"I'm worried about you Jeffrey. You're 36 years old and the most serious relationship you've had is with Slater and you ended that, by putting a bullet to the back of her head. Not saying she didn't deserve it, but it still wasn't right that you should've been the one to do that.

Jeff just shook his head at that reminder.

"You do your job, and then go home to your empty apartment, that ain't right boy"

"You kinda do the same job as me, and it doesn't affect you" he countered.

"I'm not in the field and I have Andre and the boys to come home to. Who do you have?"

Jeff put down his fork and took a deep breath, his mind working overtime to come up with a retort to that. The silence was broken by Shirley's mobile. She stepped in the hallway to answer it. She came back in with a small grin on her face.

"Looks like someone's chosen Tiger to ruin their day"

The corner of Jeff's mouth twitched up. Whilst privately she always called him Jeffrey, when she called him Tiger, it meant it was time to get down to business.


	3. Chapter 3

Jeff sat in the briefing room waiting for Shirley to tell him his next mission. Suddenly the door sprang open.

"Oh Tiger, fancy seeing you here."

"Director Pelton what are you doing here?"

"Oh this mission is one I've taken a personal interest in."

"Personal interest?" Jeff repeated glaring at Shirley, who had just walked in.

"Director Pelton, so good to see you could make it. How have you been?"

"Oh fine. Just sitting here, getting reacquainted with Agent Tiger here." He leaned forward and started to stroke Jeff's chest. "Tell me Tiger am I ever going to learn your real name?"

"NO!" Jeff shouted, whilst standing up from his chair. "I mean, we keep information like that classified, so you have plausible deniability."

Shirley decided to take control of the situation, before Jeff cracked and snapped Pelton's neck.

"Tiger, Director Pelton please sit down and take a look at this."

The large screen in front of them came on and displayed a photo of a rather old man.

"This is Professor Pierce Hawthorne" Shirley continued."An absolute scientific genius. He designed all our missile interceptor systems. Thanks to that man no missile can attack US airspace. However, he is also one of the most paranoid idiots on the planet."

"Paranoid how?"

"Well let's just say he started to believe that after he finished the defence systems, we would try to kill him."

"Why would he think that?"

"Well" said Pelton, "after a certain person in this room killed his father Cornelius Hawthorne..."

"I did NOT kill his father, I just yelled at him until he had a heart attack!"

"Gentlemen please, this is not helping anyone out at all" said Shirley. "Can we please get back on the topic at hand?"

"Sorry boss won't happen again."

"My apologies Agent Bennett. Please continue."

"As I was saying, after the unfortunate death of his father, Professor Hawthorne started to believe that we wanted him dead. With this firmly lodged in his brain, he quit his job with the government and took a post at Trinity College in Dublin. Now what we believe is that the Professor is going to be selling the plans for the guidance systems to a foreign nation. We cannot allow this to happen."

"Ahhh...I get it. You want me to nip over, organise a reunion for the Professor and his father and then make sure the plans are safe. God this is almost a training mission" said Jeff, whist rolling his eyes.

"I don't think the president would like that" Pelton replied. "You see the Hawthorne family are big contributors to the president's re-election fund. He would be most annoyed if anything happened to the last family member."

"The Director's correct." The sentence left a bitter taste in Shirley's mouth. "We have no hard evidence against Hawthorne at the moment. Your assignment is to go down there and keep an eye on the professor and find out what he is exactly up to."

"So just to clarify, you guys are sending me on a babysitting gig? Me, the guy who has single handily saved this country from a nuclear threat at least 3 times, is now going to look after old man river just so the President can use him as his personal ATM."

"Brilliant Tiger. You fully understand what to do." Pelton pulled a card out of his pocket and passed it to Jeff. "This is my personal number. Anything you need and I do mean _anything_, just give me a call."

With that Pelton stood up and left the room. Jeff looked at the card and shivered. Shaking his head he turned to Shirley.

"This is the best you could find for me?"

"Sorry Tiger. Orders are orders and this came from the very top. One more thing before you leave. On most of your missions someone always ends up dead. This assignment is strictly observation only. DO NOT and I repeat, DO NOT kill anyone whilst you are there. "

* * *

Jeff had been waiting for almost two hours for the Professor to put in an appearance. Two hours in the rain, outside this stupid college. Plus he really had to use the bathroom. Jeff decided to risk it and go behind a bush. Just as he had started to relieve himself, Pierce stormed out of the building and started to walk towards his car. Jeff silently cursed, quickly zipped up and ran after him.

"Professor Hawthorne can I have a word with you?"

Pierce stopped and gave him the once over.

"Not now forehead l have a hot date with a lady of the night."

"A date? With a lady of the night?" Jeff's voice shuddered as the sick images started flashing in his head.

"Yes, with a lady. Not that your kind would approve."

"My kind! What do you mean by that?"

"Out of my way gay wad, I'm running late."

With that Pierce got into his car and drove off. Jeff just stood there shaking his head. God this guy was actually more annoying than his father. With nothing more to do Jeff decided to look around Pierce's home and see if he could find any more information there.

* * *

Jeff got to Pierce's house he found the door unlocked. He slowly pushed the door open and walked in. What he saw confused the hell out of him. Standing in the middle of the room was a small brunette woman. She was wearing a short skirt with grey tights and a tight sweater which enhanced her natural features (her breasticals). She was dancing and vacuuming the floor, whilst singing along to her iPod. It was the most adorable thing Jeff had ever seen. Jeff found him smiling and humming along to the tune.

The woman suddenly turned around and gasped when she saw Jeff. He was totally dumbstruck by her eyes. It was as though a team of Disney cartoonist has spent eternity perfecting the eyes. He was so transfixed on her eyes that he missed her asking him something. He missed her tearing across the room at him. The next sensation he felt was her fist connecting with his face.

"Ow...What the hell!"

The next thing Jeff knew he was flat on his back. She instantly flipped him onto his front and sat on his back straddling him. She grabbed a fistful of his hair and slammed his head down onto the floor.

"Don't you dare try and steel anything from Professor Hawthorne" she shouted at him. She got off him and ran to her phone. "I'm calling the police."

On hearing that Jeff quickly got to his feet and ran out of the house. He stopped running when he came to a bench and sat down.

"Damn" he thought. "Damn damn"...what the hell had just happened. He did not want to believe the answer.

Jeff Winger had just got his ass handed to him by a munch-kin.


	4. Chapter 4

Jeff hid in the bushes, until he saw the woman leave Pierce's house. He slowly walked out and approached her calmly; his arms held up slightly, to show her he was no threat.

"Don't come any closer." She pulled a canister out of her bag. "I have a can of mace"

"Look I believe this is just a simple misunderstanding. I came here looking for Professor Hawthorne."

"Who are you?"

"My names Jeffrey Winger. I'm a journalist. I was hoping to interview the professor."

"Oh o.k. Sorry about attacking you I thought you were a thief. But you shouldn't just walk into people's homes unannounced."

"Yep lesson learned. Believe me. What's your name?"

"I'm Annie Edison, the professor's housekeeper."

"Hiya Annie. Could you do me a favour and put the mace away please? After your earlier display, its kinda making me nervous. "

"Oh sorry. I really shouldn't use this; I always end up spraying myself in the face."

Jeff chuckled at that. Even though she had just kicked his ass and then threatened him with mace, he still found something endearing about her.

"Do you know when the professor will be back?"

"He's gone out with one of his ummm...lets say lady friends. So he won't be back till tomorrow. You could try again tomorrow afternoon, just remember to knock first. Okay I have to get going now. Goodbye Jeffrey."

"Call me Jeff."

"Okay. Goodbye Jeff."

With that she started to walk away. For Jeff this conversation was over too quickly. He wanted to know more about her.

"Hey Annie," Jeff said whilst running to catch up with her. "You wouldn't happen to know if there's a hotel nearby. I haven't had time to sort out living conditions."

"Yep there are a couple of nice hotels near my dorms. I'll show you on my way."

"Thanks."

With that they started walking.

"So you live in dorms. I take it you're a student at the collage."

"Yes I am. I'm studying forensics. Okay there's a hotel across the road. You should go and see if they have any vacancies."

Jeff walked into the hotel and looked around. The receptionist looked up and smiled at Jeff.

"Hello welcome to the Wilber arms hotel. Can I help you sir?"

"No I don't think you can." And with that Jeff walked out.

"What happened?" asked Annie

"They had no rooms left."

"No problems, there's another hotel up the road."

They continued walking.

"So," said Annie, "which part of the States are you from?"

"It's a small town you probably never heard of called Greendale."

"No way! That's where I'm originally from. What are the odds that two people from Greendale hooking up in Dublin?"

Jeff chuckled and raised an eyebrow at her.

Annie's face started to blush and she quickly started to amend her previous statement

"Not that we're hooking up in that sense, cause we're not. Not cause you're not attractive, cause you are. Its I've just met you so I wouldn't jump into bed with you, not that I will..."

Jeff by now was completely entranced by her rambling and the fact her face was getting more and more redder with each word. He placed his hands on her shoulders and stared deep into her eyes.

"Annie relax I understand what you were trying to say. Just stop and take a deep breath."

Annie took a deep breath and pointed across the road. Jeff followed her finger and saw what she was pointing to. A hotel. Jeff nodded at her and walked to the hotel.

"Hello and welcome to the Green park hotel."

"Hi. I'm Jeff," he replied, winking at the receptionist.

She smiled and blushed a little.

"Hi Jeff I'm Amanda."

Thanks for all your help Amanda." With that Jeff turned around and walked out. Amanda stared at him with a confused look on her face.

"They are over booked in there."

Annie looked up at him and started to bite on her bottom lip. Jeff took one look at her doing this and he felt his stomach drop.

With an apologetic tone Annie started talking.

"Sorry Jeff. There are a few more hotels in that direction. I would like to stay and help, but my place is this way."

"That fine Annie. I'll find something. Thanks for all your help."

"Okay goodbye Jeff."

With that Annie turned around and walked away, feeling Jeff's eyes following her.

She walked in to her dorm room and placed her bag in the closet. She went to her fridge and took a bottle of water. She took a sip and looked out if the window. She gasped at what she saw. On a bench a certain Jeff Winger was trying to get to sleep. She quickly opened her window.

"Jeff."

Jeff sat up and started to look around.

"Up here."

He looked up and saw Annie with her head stuck out of a window.

"Come up here" she beckoned.

Jeff got up and went towards the door.

"No! No one can see you come up. Use the drain pipe."

"Wait. What?"

"Yes climb up the drain pipe, and then climb in through the window."

Jeff stood near the drain pipe and tried to climb it. His foot slipped and he slid back down.

"I can't get a good grip on this pipe."

"Hold on I'll get you something."

Annie turned around to get him a towel. She walked towards her bathroom and then stopped. What was she doing? She had only known thus guy for about an hour and here she was offering him a place to sleep. She shook her head and remembered the way he had looked at her. It was as though he had peered into her very soul and seen the real her. She couldn't explain it, but she wanted to be near him. She wanted to be with him. She grabbed a towel and went back to the window.

As soon as Annie had gone in to get him a towel, Jeff took a quick look around and quickly climbed the drain pipe. He didn't need Annie knowing too much about his skills. He reached her window a jumped onto the ledge. Just then Annie's head popped back out again. She scanned the ground below, looking for Jeff.

"Hiya"

"Oh you scared me" she gasped. "How did you get up here?"

"I ummm managed to get a good grip"

"Oh okay. Come on in."

Jeff climbed through and looked around. It was a small living room with a kitchen and bathroom of to the side. He saw a small closed door, which he assumed lead to her bedroom.

"That'll be 100 Euros."

"What?"

"100 Euros."

"Wait what do you exactly do here?"

She turned a deep shade of red and stared daggers at him.

"Eww, no! I'm not that type if girl. Its 100 Euros to sleep on my couch."

"100 Euros? The hotels only charge 60."

"Well you can always go and try to find one." She giggled at his predicament

Jeff just rolled his eyes, pulled out his wallet and handed over the cash.

"Okay here's the couch, where you'll be sleeping. The bathroom is over there." She vaguely pointed in its direction.

"Well, as I'm paying for the privilege of your couch, is there any chance of something to eat. I'm pretty famished."

"Sorry, I don't have anything to eat. I usually take my meals from the professor."

"No worries, we can order something in. My treat"

"I couldn't let you that"

"No I insist. Let my make it up to you."

"Make up for what?"

"For all the trouble I've put you through today. Plus for comparingyoutoahooker."

She smiled at his rushed tone. "Well if you insist, I could have some Chinese."

An hour later the food had been delivered and Annie had found a few bottles of beer. They were both sat on the couch tucking into their meals.

"So what do you want to interview the professor about?"

"Well I'm writing an article about the greatest scientific mind of the 21st century, and the professor is on the list."

"No offence, but the professor is one of the greatest minds of the 21st century? Most days he has trouble remembering to wear pants."

"Well I don't know much about the guy, but my boss was most adamant that I spend time with him. The professor however feels differently and brushed me off today."

"Let me speak to him. I'm his favorite, so I can set up a meeting with him"

"Thanks Annie. Don't know what I would of done without you"

"Still be sleeping on a park bench"

They both cracked up at this. They finished their meals and were ready for bed. Annie bought out spare sheets, a blanket and pillow for Jeff. As she headed back to her bedroom Jeff turned around.

"Annie once again thanks for everything you have done today. Goodnight milady"

Annie beamed her biggest smile of the day at him.

"Goodnight milord."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 4**

"Do you know how many stomach crunches I'm gonna have to do after eating all of that? "

"Jeff stop moaning. You can't come to Dublin and not have a fry up."

Jeff and Annie had woken up and gone out for breakfast. Annie had convinced Jeff to order a fry up. Jeff had taken one look at it and started moaning about carbs and high fat content. Annie was starting to worry about exactly how seriously Jeff took his diet. Suddenly her phone beeped.

"Sorry Jeff I have to get to class."

The waiter came over and placed the bill on the table. Annie reached down and started to open her purse. Jeff waved her off.

"It's okay this is on me."

"Jeff you can't keep on paying for my meals."

"I'm not. My editor has given me an expense account."

"In that case I need to thank your editor for breakfast"

With that she got up and confirmed with Jeff to meet her at 2 pm, so he could meet the professor. When she had left the cafe Jeff picked up the bill and smacked it round the head of the person sitting behind him. The man looked around and glared at Jeff.

"Dude that's so not cool."

Jeff just laughed as the man came round and sat in the seat.

"Just pay the bill, Barnes."

Jeff stood and walked out of the cafe. Troy quickly paid the bill and followed Jeff out.

"Tiger wait up. Where were you last night? I was waiting for you at the safe house."

"I found somewhere else to stay."

"Yeah I saw her at breakfast. You know you should be working, not trying to get your leg over anything that moves. "

"She was work."

"Dude that's gross!"

"Not. Like. That. She's the professor's housekeeper and she has arranged a meeting with him today."

"Wow! Never thought I would see Tiger get straight down to work."

Jeff just rolled his eyes. Troy handed Jeff an envelope.

"What's this? "

"Your new passport and credit cards, Mr Neil Garrett."

Jeff stopped walking. _Jeff Winger_. Shit he had given Annie his real name. It was such a rookie mistake to make. No scratch that not even rookies like Troy made mistakes like that. What in hell was going on? He quickly handed the envelope back to Troy.

"I can't use these. They may have been comprised."

"What how? We were so careful."

"Don't worry about it. Shit happens. I always carry a backup identity. From now on I'm Jeff Winger."

"Jeff Winger?"

"Yes. Don't question it. And don't tell Agent Bennett. She'll only blame you for it. Now where is this safe house?"

* * *

"So Mr Winger. What is it that you exactly want to do?"

"Well I'd like to shadow you professor. You know to see where you work. Watch you when you relax at home, have your meals "

"I'll bet you'd also like to see me in the bedroom."

"WHAT!"

"Oh come on! That haircut, along with the spray tan, your one of those gays ain't you? You don't want to interview me; you just want to get into my pants."

"No believe me. NO!"

Jeff just shook his head.

"I need to see you doing all those things, so I can convey to our readers what type of person you are."

"I don't know forehead."

Jeff bit back an angry retort.

"Look Professor; let's just give it a trial run for a week. If not, then I'm afraid we'll have to give the front cover to Professor Steven Hawkins."

"That douche. What has he done for science lately? Not a chance in hell he's taking my prize from me. Damn it I'll do it."

"Thank you professor. I'm sure everything will work out."

Jeff left the professor's house pleased with himself. He had got through to the delusional fool and now could get on with his task. He dialled a number on his phone and waited for the other person to pick up.

"Troy meet me at the shopping centre in half an hour."

"The shopping centre?"

"Yes. It'll make sense when you'll get here."

* * *

"Ummm... Tiger have you ever brought a woman a gift before?"

"What do you think?"

"I'll take that as a no."

"Why what's wrong with this dress?"

"I just don't think a dress is an appropriate way of saying thank you."

"Well what is then?"

"I don't know. Jewellery, perfume. Something chocolaty. Why are we buying this chick a present anyway?"

"AS A THANK YOU."

Jeff took a deep breath to calm himself down

"She has the most insight into the Professor's life and can help us. And believe me having met the professor we'll probably need all the help we can get. Also she is a kind hearted individual, so stop calling her a chick."

Troy stopped and looked at Jeff

"Tiger a present as a thank you? You sure that's all this is?"

"Yes"

"Fine I'm going to find something to eat."

"WHY? You're supposed to be helping me."

"Cause you've had me traipsing round shops for the last 3 hours. And not even good shops, shops filled with women's things."

"God help you when you grow up. Go find some food. I'm calling in the big guns."

Whilst Troy walked away Jeff pulled out his phone and dialled the one person he could rely on in situations like this.

"Hello who's this?"

"Mom, it's me."

"Oh Jeffrey! What a pleasant surprise. So what do you want?"

"Mom can't a son just call his mom to see how she is."

"Not when the son is you Jeffrey. Now I'll ask again what do you want?"

Jeff took a deep breath

"Mom I need help in choosing a gift."

"A gift? For who?"

"For a friend"

"Again who is this friend?"

"Her name's Annie"

"Oh my god! Have my ears deserted me? Please tell me I'm not hearing things? Did Jeffrey Winger just admit to buying a gift for a woman? "

I haven't brought anything yet," Jeff growled. "That's where you come in.

"So tell me all about this Annie..."

Suddenly Jeff was regretting making this phone call.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 5**

A week later Jeff walked into the college theatre, looking for Annie. He found her on the stage directing a team of painters.

"Hiya Annie."

"Jeff!" She gasped. "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you."

Jeff took a look around. "So what's going on here?"

"We're getting ready for our annual performance."

"Annual performance?"

"Yes. Every year we put on a show to raise money for local charities. This year we're doing the King and I."

"Fantastic" said Jeff, trying to sound interested. "So what role are you playing?"

"I'm not in the play. I'm the stage director."

"Shame, I reckon you would have made a terrific Anna Leonowens."

Annie started to blush at Jeff's compliment. She looked up at him and gave him a huge smile.

"Thank you for saying that. So why were you looking for me?"

"To give this to you."

It was only now that Annie noticed that Jeff was carrying a purple gift bag. He held it out for her. Annie gingerly took the bag off him.

"Jeff what's this?"

"It's a gift."

"A gift? What for?"

"It's a thank you for helping me out with the professor. Without your help I would have never even got near him."

"Jeff you didn't have to."

"I know didn't have to do this. I wanted to."

Annie's smile turned into a look of confusion as she looked into the bag.

"Jeff what's this?" She said as she pulled a small bear out of the bag.

"Well I was trying to find you a gift, but nothing looked remotely good enough for you. So I phoned my mother..."

"Awww you called your mum!"

Jeff immediately cringed with embarrassment. Why did he feel the need to share that with her? What was going on with his brain to mouth filter? He looked down at Annie and saw her smile stretched across her face and her eyes were the widest he had ever seen. She looked unbelievably cute and adorable. _Cute and adorable_ since when had he started using words like those. He shook his head and continued.

"Yes I called my mum and whilst we were talking about what to get you, I remembered seeing a lot of stuffed toys in your dorm room. This lead to my mother remembering about my stuffed toys and how she still had my favourite bear from when I was little. The very bear you now hold in your hands."

Jeff was now pointing to the bear. Annie's widened her eyes even more as she followed Jeff's finger down to the bear.

"J-Jeff I can't accept this. I mean, this is something from your childhood. It's important to you; otherwise your mother wouldn't off kept it."

"Annie you're right Bailey is important to me..."

"Bailey?"

"Yes the bear is called Bailey."

"Awww..."

"Stop that!"

"Sorry"

"So as I was saying, Bailey is so important to me that I would rather he be with someone who could fully look after him, then stuck in my mother's attic."

At this Annie just wrapped her arms around Jeff and buried her head into his chest. Jeff responded by wrapping his own hands round Annie and placing a chaste kiss on top of her head, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

"I promise to take care of him" Annie whispered to Jeff.

"Annie" a shout came from the stage.

Annie and Jeff broke their embrace and looked over at the stage.

Annie sighed an apology and walked over to the stage. She spoke to a man and then beckoned Jeff over.

"Jeff can you help us out for a moment?"

"No problems. What do you need me to do?"

"We need to set the lighting for the waltz scene. And I was wondering if you would step in for the king?"

"Annie I hope you're not asking me to dance?"

"J-eeee-ffff" she whined. "Its not going to be that terrible."

"Trust me it will be. I don't know how to dance, let alone to the waltz."

Annie held out her hand.

"Just follow my lead."

Jeff took a deep breath and took Annie's hand. She started to twirl around the stage. Jeff was trying to keep up the appearance that he did not know how to dance, but as the lights went dark and a spotlight shone on them, everything went out of Jeff's mind and the only thing he could concentrate on was Annie's eyes. Moving around, Jeff had managed to lose himself in those eyes.

"Jeff?"

"Huh?"

"The Music's stopped."

"What?"

"You can let go of me" Annie said with a giggle.

Jeff's hands instantly dropped to his side. He flashed an awkward smile.

"Well I should let you get on with things. I'll be on my way."

"Take care of yourself Jeff. Bye."

Jeff turned around and went to head out. He stopped and looked at Annie.

"Hey Annie, you doing anything tonight?"

"Nothing planned. Why?"

"I was wondering if you can meet me at the National Botanic Gardens tonight at 10?"

"Why 10?"

"Trust me its a very important time. Will you be there?"

"I will. Its a date."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 6

Annie walked into the national botanical gardens at 10 and followed the directions Jeff had texted her. She walked towards the lake and saw one of the most beautiful sites she had seen. A blanket had been placed on the ground, surrounded by what looked like a million candles. On the blanket was a picnic basket. And standing next to all of this was Jeff, staring out at the lake.

"Jeff."

"Annie, you made it. And exactly on time"

"Yes Jeff, punctuality is very important. "

Jeff started to chuckle at this.

"Annie believe me I wasn't complaining, I was just showing my appreciation. "

"Well thank you for that. Why did you want to see me here?"

Jeff pulled her in closer and pointed out to the lake. Annie looked out and saw what Jeff had been looking at. There were two swans gliding through the water, as though they were performing the waltz that Jeff and Annie had done earlier in the day.

"Awww...that's so...," suddenly something clicked in her mind. "Jeff did you call me out here, at this time, just to see some swans?"

"No! The swans are just a bonus. What I wanted to show you is up above."

At this she tilted her head up and saw lights streaking across the sky. Jeff just studied Annie's face. She looked in complete awe.

"Annie, do you know that Dublin is one if the best places in the world to view meteor showers. The last one was on..."

"1st June 2009." Annie interrupted. On the look of confusion on Jeff's face she continued. "When I was younger, whenever there was a meteor shower, my dad would drive out to a quite spot and we would lie on the roof of his car, watching the shower."

A few tears slid down her cheeks and she shook her head trying to console herself. Suddenly Jeff cupped her face and brushed away the tears with his thumb.

"Annie if you don't mind me asking, where is your father?"

"He's that star, looking down at us."

"Ummm...what?"

"Sorry I'll explain. My bubbe, I mean my grandma, said that when a person dies, they become a star and continue to watch over us."

Jeff looked up and pointed to a star. "So is this one your father?"

A smile blossomed onto Annie's face.

"No it's this one", she said, as she repositioned Jeff's arm.

Jeff started to wave at the star in question.

"Hi there Mr Edison. My name's Jeff and I'm a friend of your daughter. Look there's no point in hiding anything from you, especially as you can see everything. I need your help here. I wanna tell your daughter something, but I have absolutely no idea on how to even start."

Annie pulled Jeff closer to herself.

"What did you wanna tell me?"

"Annie I...oh screw this!"

With this Jeff leaned down to Annie and brought his lips crashing down onto Annie's lips. Annie was stunned for about a few seconds, before her brain caught up and she started to kiss him back.

* * *

The next morning Annie woke up with a weight against her hip. She turned around and saw a sleeping Jeff. She smiled at his peaceful form and slipped out of his hold. She slowly put her clothes back on and made her way to the front door.

"Don't I even get a goodbye?"

Annie quickly turned and saw Jeff standing at the doorway of his bedroom.

"Jeff, I wanted to say goodbye, but you looked so peaceful I couldn't bring myself to wake you."

Jeff walked up to Annie and pulled her into a deep kiss. "So you have time for coffee?"

"Sorry I have to go. Tonight is the show and I have a million things to prepare..."

She stopped at the look of disappointment on Jeff's face and pulled him in for a mind blowing kiss. As Jeff's hand started to find their way to her hips she had to reluctantly pull away.

"Jeff I really have to go. You gonna come to see the show tonight?"

"You want me there?"

"Of course silly. I'll leave you a ticket at the door. Bye."

She gave him one last fleeting kiss and walked out of the door.

"Is it safe to come out now?"

"Yes Troy, I've just put the kettle on."

Troy walked out of his room and headed straight to the kitchen.

"Dude can you tell me what that was?"

"You're a big boy now Barnes, I'm sure I don't need to give you a talk about the birds and bees!"

"No I was talking about the fact that you bought someone back to the safe house without letting me know in advance. How was I supposed to do a clean sweep of the place?"

"Relax she wasn't a threat. Plus she never saw much whilst she was here..."

"Yeh, except the bedroom ceiling! HAHAHA."

Jeff suddenly lunged forward and before Troy knew what had hit him, he found himself pinned to the worktop.

"Barnes I want you to listen very carefully, cause I'm not in the habit of repeating myself. We do NOT make jokes about Annie. It is very important that you understand this, or we are about to have a very big falling out. Do you understand me?"

"YES! YES! I fully understand."

Jeff let go of Troy and walked back to his coffee cup. Troy was staring at him wondering if he should say anything. Eventually he piped up;

"Tiger what is it with you and this girl?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's just that your buying gifts for this girl, then taking her out for romantic date and attacking me when I make a small joke about your sexy times. Are you falling in love with her?"

"I don't know." Jeff took a deep breath. "Look there's something different about this girl. She makes me feel like I could, I don't know, have a different future."

Jeff looked up at Troy, who looked confused.

"Troy, don't worry too much about it. As soon as I've figured out what's going on, I'll let you know. In the mean time, we still have a mission to carry out. I get to spend another wonderful day with the Professor. And you get to do some shopping."

"Ummm...Tiger what am I shopping for?"

"My new suit."

"What do you need a new suit for?"

"I'm going to watch Annie's play tonight. And I need to look my sharpest."

* * *

Jeff took his seat at the theater. He was hoping to see Annie before, but was told she was tied up back stage. No problems he would see her afterwards. He looked over to his right and saw Pierce a couple of seats down. Just as the lights started to dim, Jeff's phone vibrated. He looked at the screen and saw it was Troy calling him. He quickly answered.

"Tiger I need to see you outside immediately."

"About what Barnes?"

"Just come outside now."

Jeff quickly put his phone down and went outside. He looked around and saw Troy standing near a corner.

"OK Barnes why did you pull me out of there?"

"One of the sensors picked up movement in the professor's house."

"That's impossible. The Professor and Annie are both here. No one else has access to the place." Jeff let out a small groan. "Dammit I was looking forward to tonight. Barnes you stay here and keep an eye on the old man. I'll go and check out his place."

As Jeff went to walk away, Troy quickly slipped Jeff a hand gun and whispered "just in case."

* * *

Jeff slipped in through an open window and saw a light on in the professor's study. He quickly moved to the door, peaked round the door and saw a figure at the desk. He slowly drew his gun and walked in.

"Put your hands out where I can see them and turn around."

The person turned around and Jeff was knocked for a six.

"Annie?"

"Jeff!...What are you doing here and why are you holding a gun."

Jeff wanted to answer, but his eyes were drawn to the computer screen. On it he could see that the defense system files were being downloaded. He instantly understood what Annie was doing here.

"Annie who do you work for."

Annie recognised the steel in his voice and now figured out she was talking to an agency spook.

"The DGES."

"Well you know what happens now. You have two choices. You can either join us and tell us what you guys are planning. Or..." Jeff couldn't finish that sentence.

Annie looked at Jeff with a formidable look on her face. "I would never betray my team."

Jeff cocked his gun. He aimed it at Annie, but then stopped and lowered it slightly.

"Annie apart from what I do for a living, everything I told you was the truth. I need to know do you still feel the same way about me?"

"Jeff you should know, I was only doing my job and nothing more."

Jeff quickly fired two shots into her head. Her body slumped down and Jeff leaned over and checked for a pulse. He stood up and phoned Troy.

"Barnes get over here on the double. We need to dispose of a body."


End file.
